Welcome to Afronerd!
A new and needed web sanctuary for people of color with intellectual and artistic pursuits. In this blog we will be addressing interesting and varied subjects, i.e. current national/world affairs, culture, science, religion, politics, entertainment and literature(including graphic novels a/k/a comic books.....yes comics). We hope you enjoy the exchange of ideas.
Peace & Godspeed.

Mission

Welcome to Afronerd! A new and needed web sanctuary for people of color with intellectual and artistic pursuits. In this blog we will be addressing interesting and varied subjects, i.e. current national/world affairs, culture, science, religion, politics, entertainment and literature(including graphic novels a/k/a comic books.....yes comics). We hope you enjoy the exchange of ideas. Peace & Godspeed

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Howdy, citizens! Welcome to another fun and fuel packed Grindhouse episode of Afronerd Radio airing this Saturday at 6pm. Listen to Daryll B., Capt. Kirk and Dburt at The Comic Shoppe where the trio will discuss the following "nerd-tastic" concerns: the crew reviews the recent release of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek: Into Darkness film; Marvel and Fox studios clash over the use of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch for their upcoming projects; the saga of the Black android gains prominence in Fox's new Almost Human TV series; a copy of Action#1 gets discovered in the insulation of a recently purchased home; Microsoft reveals its Xbox One video console and lastly, Dburt discusses his fondness for the new BBC America series, Orphan Black. Call the hosts live at 646-915-9620.

And then there's Afronerd Radio pinch hitting at 7pm eastern standard. Check for Dburt and Capt. Kirk's world view on the following topical concerns: continuing from Wednesday's show, President Obama and his scandals are they real, imagined or just distratactions?; a White Howard University student discusses her reasoning for attending a HBCU; and speaking of White students at Black colleges-stats show that the trend of reverse cross racial attendence at such institutions is on the rise; new developments in the Trayvon Martin case tells us that one's character matters; rapper, Chief Keef threatens pop tart, Katy Perry on twitter; iconic rap producer, Dr. Dre donates 35 million to USC (and not an HBCU) and lastly, actress, Zoe Saldana makes some POC uncomfortable with her recent comments in Allure magazine.

And then we have Daryll B. of The Shoppe latest blog entry. Imperius Rex!

Doing another quick Link-Blog as I am standing in line for Fast and Furious 6. Chances are on Saturday at 6pm EST we'll be doing a Star Trek review along with talking Avengers 2/ X-Men Days of Future Past rumors, so I'll avoid putting those links in. Otherwise....

...and just like that by November, I will be picking up NO DC titles... Earth 2 was the last bastion and that was because of Mr. Robinson. Help me out folks... what DC Title should I be picking up right now?

Granted it was inspired by Johns departure from Green Lantern and to a lesser extent, Morrison's departure from the Bat-Universe, but as you saw from my comment about the article before, this is a true phenomenon. I can recall 6 or 7 instances where I left a title just because a writer/artist left a book. A good writer or artist is like a dependable warm blanket that makes you feel safe. (Yes I just went Linus on this topic....sue me..). The great writer/artist is a mindblowing experience for a reader. The best thing about this cynical cycle though is going back later and picking up stuff from a later writer and finding out how wrong you were to leave the book. Thank God for graphic novels in this regard.

I will admit to not knowing much about Mr. Finger compared to other creators that have gotten screwed over but let's say now I am intrigued in reading a biography or two. If he did create a lot of the bat mythos that have lasted through the ages, then Mr. Finger does needs to be credited...

-Kelly Thompson checks in with two artist friends in updating some heroines' looks...

As usual, guys lash out blindly in the comments in the usual fanboy rage. Although I don't agree with a lot of the changes because the style just doesn't suit my personal tastes, I do agree that her choices do need some updating... and in the case of Harley Quinn, let's just go back to the original Dini/Timm creation please... PLEASE?

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Our apologies for the last two preempted shows, folks. But we had to take care of some "behind the scenes" business which just could not be avoided. Anywho...pull up a seat this Wednesday at 7pm and check out how the Captain and Dburt play sonic catch up with this week's latest stories: the team will attempt to analyze this past Sunday's Billboard awards; President Obama delivers a stirring commencement address to this year's Morehouse graduates; and speaking of the POTUS, what about those scandals? Are they much ado about nothing or is impeachment a serious consideration?; Fox's Almost Human trailer hits cyberspace about a Black android; and lastly, the tech world welcomes another newly minted millionaire. Call the hosts live at 646-915-9620.

Oh and while you wait for Daryll B's upcoming meanderings scheduled for this Saturday, take a gander at his latest blog posting:

Good Day AfroNerd Readers and Sci-Fi Fans of all ages. As I type this, I am prepping to take out a couple of loans, sell some blood and maybe donate a kidney to help support my Spring/Summer Movie watching habit. You think I am kidding? In the next three weeks I got Star Trek Into Darkness, Fast and Furious 6, Now You See Me (which has snuck up on me with their advertising strategy), The Hangover 3, and Epic (yes, I still go to see animated features in theaters..). Yep, I am that idiot that keeps Hollywood afloat... damn their 6 dollar sodas and 8 dollar popcorn along with insane 3-D prices.... but I still do it.....ALF help me...

I am all for the extension of the Marvel Movie Empire but there does come a point of over-saturation for all things. Vampires, parody movies, buddy cop films, quirky romance, etc. all have reached a point where diminishing returns have been noticeably seen and felt by the industry. This plan would creep dangerously into that zone... even though I agree with it.

Now I had gotten the album as a Wu-Tang head and thought it served well as an inverse to RZA's Man With The Iron Fists soundtrack. Knowing about the comic's availability now means that my hunt begins...

OK so the past couple of weeks have seen me lose Sword and Sorcery and Team 7. Now I lose Legion of Super-Heroes, Demon Knights, and Dial H. This means I am down to 1 DC book after August and I won't speak its name for fear of losing that one too. At least I have more money for the movies now....

I was thinking that one of the bonuses of Geoff Johns leaving the Green Lantern franchise was getting a more well rounded portrait of John Stewart. Seems like the new guy is going to follow right in Johns' "hardcore marine" path. Ouch.

-But not all is doom and gloom for me in the land of DC. Thank you SuperFans!

I may be in the minority in liking the Nightwing/Starfire pairing more than Nightwing/Batgirl but come on.. how could anyone hate on this? THIS IS AWESOME! Kudos to the married couple and their friends and family on carrying it out. May you see plenty of years containing married bliss!

-Brian Cronin spotlights my favorite comic moment in the last year by far...

Once again, we'd like for our loyal listenership to take a gander at friend of the show and our resident filmmaker, Hilton A. Ruiz' latest installment from his viral horror series, Zombie with a Shotgun. And if that wasn't enough, we have a new blog posting from The Shoppe's Daryll B. Enjoy!

Hi AfroNerd Followers and science fiction fans of all ages and walks of life. This time I am blogging to you from the line of Iron Man 3 and let me tell you folks on line are absolutely giddy. This is the energy that comic companies need to capitalize on and (BIG surprise!) nothing to be found. So let me help them out: Saturday May 4th is Free Comic Book Day. Your local comic shop should have free books from various comic companies and there will be selections to suit any interest. If you are REALLY lucky and your comic dealer is cool, he/she will have specials/fun events tied to the day also. So enjoy...

About last week's show, I apologize for the Jamie Foxx as "Blue Electro" outburst. A friend at SuperHero Comics pointed out that maybe the director is emulating the Timm/Dini animated DC universe and his character Livewire and her bluish look after she got her electrical powers. I should have thought of that but still... there are parts of me that have that "refusing to let Richard Pryor be called Brainiac in Superman" sting still.

Speaking of Brainiac, I picked up Superman Unbound and you know the saying "be careful what you wish for"? Well for the longest time, THIS was the type of movie I wanted for a live action Superman joint. In space, facing a serious menace, and being able to cut loose. However, the movie left me a bit wanting. Don't get me wrong, the animation is great and I enjoyed the fact that this was not a "G" rated movie but there are scenes in the film that will leave Superman Fans going "huh?". Especially if they loved the Geoff Johns storyline that the movie is based on, there will be one or two IMPORTANT plot elements that were left out of the film completely. Be warned... Unbound is good but could have been much better...

Ok. This is definately a hard blow. Comics Alliance as you folks know, was one of the main sites that I pulled out comics news and topics that peaked my interest. It'll be sorely missed as a news site that not only presented serious news and opinions along with lighthearted fare, but it provided a great place for debates of a comic nature.

Sometimes, in the rush to know everything about our favorite movies, we spoil our own enjoyment for the project we are waiting for. I can't explain it and probably no other geek can give a good explanation for this paradox

A Black Human Torch and possibly a Black Invisible Woman? Well once again there isn't anything that inherently makes either character "white"... but get ready for major blowback to this one.... even though we just had a Latina Sue Storm in the previous 2 movies.

My problem with this is the same with Marvel Comics' Black Panther explanation. Stop talking and just do it! Quality begets quality and I don't understand why this is so hard to capture Princess Diana on film.

I avoided this like the plague so mine isn't the opinion you want but I give it to Gav here. He was balanced and rational in this analysis of the run.....-Finally, in case the Iron Man 3 success inspires you to look up Iron Man tales, Brian Cronin at CSBG helps us all out with this..

As I told my friends, you can clearly see from the stories listed which ones HEAVILY influenced the movie series, for good and ill. I gave Iron Man 3 an 7 out of 10 stars for three reasons.

1) The acting was superb. I can honestly say that each of the characters were well written and the plot was on point and it is probably the most soul searching yet arguably funny entry to date in the Marvel Avengers franchise.

2) The action scenes were great. Great visuals with the armor(s) and the humans with "enhancements" were realistic and horrifying at the same time. And the shout outs to treasured Iron Man stories was awesome for a continuity geek like me...

So if I say these two things, why only a 7? Well....

3) The movie let me down in its "new world" depiction of The Mandarin.... which is a shame because Ben Kingsley knocked the role out of the park. Confused still? It is similar to my opinion to Heath Ledger as the Joker: he was great in his role but to me it was not The Joker I was expecting. Here Shane Black gives us The Mandarin and yet doesn't at the same time. Now if the organization of AIM becomes a major power player in later Marvel Movies *cough*MODOK*cough*, then it'll probably help lessen the disappointment in the bait and switch perpetrated here. As a stand alone movie move though, I know my friends were all asking me about the character and going "Huh?"....

So there you go. Blog is just a bit late because I am wrecked off my birthday week. Lord knows I have a lot to make up/answer for in this week coming up. My thanks to all of you that read this blog and put up with my meglomaniacal rantings. As long as you tolerate me, I shall continue to annoy you all in a humorous way.*BOWS* Until Next Time AfroNerd Followers and Sci-Fi Fans Of All Ages, Keep Fantasizing!

Saturday, May 04, 2013

Time to be terse, folks! Pull up a seat and eat your favorite "Scooby snack" this Saturday as you listen to the words of (pulp and political) wisdom from your "Podcast Avengers" starting at 6pm eastern. And remember it's double feature time at The Grindhouse, people! First up, we have The Comic Shoppe starring Capt. Kirk, Daryll B. and Dburt. This week's topics to be unpacked are: Iron Man returns on a tertiary level-and the team will give you their review; the film rights to Ghost Rider and Blade return to Marvel; the Fantastic Four reboot might get a Human Torch of color and he looks like Chronicle's Michael B. Jordan; Dburt finally checks out actor/comedian, Patton Oswalt's infamous Marvel/Star Wars rant and lastly, if time constraints permit, the team will discuss the recent release of the JLA inspired Injustice video game. Whew! Call the hosts live at 646-915-9620.

And batting second, we have Afronerd Radio, coming up to the mound at 7pm. Join Dburt and The Captain as they discuss the following issues: rappers and their endorsemnts-allegations of racism relating to Tyler the Creator's Mountain Dew web ad and Pepsi drops Lil Wayne over his Emmett Till quip; are folks still pondering the necessity of HBCUs?; the US jobs report provides a glimmer of hope and improvement , except for Black folks and is Obama to blame? ; as athlete, Jason Collins opens the closet, Youtube minstrel, Antoine Dodson shuts his closet door by renouncing gaydom and the team tackles the racist attacks being levied against Italy 's first Black cabinet member, Cecile Kyenge.

Ok AfroNerd Followers and Sci-Fi Fans from all walks of life, I guess it is time for me to make good on my boast from last week's ComicShoppe broadcast and give you my review of SyFy's Defiance. Wait or was I going to review Terra Nova? Or was I going to review Earth 2? Or was I reviewing Farscape? Or was it Falling Skies? Or is it Caprica? Or was I going to review Outcasts (which I really, REALLY wish wasn't cancelled after 1 season!)? There's the problem outlined in a nutshell.

The premise is interesting about Earth being invaded then repelling the invasion, leaving the planet scarred and a bunch of alien races stranded on the planet with the remnants of humanity. This all comes to a head in a town called Defiance which is trying to co-habitate peacefully but the task is difficult with roving scavenger gangs, outright prejudice, different factions with EVERYONE having ulterior motives, political manipulations, and into that formula we throw in a grizzled ex-soldier/bounty hunter/scavenger and his alien adopted daughter/partner.... both with attitude problems.

Yeah. I think I just described 10+ science fiction series over the last decade and the only thing unique about the series after the first 2-3 episodes is the multi-platform exposure with the video game option to continuing the story. However since I am not a gamer, I can only hope that the series finds more on the TV side to set it apart from its ilk. OK Defiance. WOW ME! 4.5 out of 10 stars

On the other side, I must say that the trailers/commercials for Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into The Darkness, and Man of Steel continue to get me hyped for Blockbuster Season. Now that I am hyped up, let's hope that the movies can follow through and give this geek lots of quality enjoyment. You folks know either way, I will give passionate opinions about them.

-Speaking of movies, you know that Capt. Kirk predicted this 3 shows ago:

Was it of the quality of past seasons? Nope. On this me and her agree BUT even at lower quality, Futurama is still in the top 20 shows on tv over the last 10 years. It will always have a place on my TV... screw "Reality TV", gimme HypnoToad!

..and it was OK. Based on elements from the Extremis and Five Nightmares storylines with nods to the movie franchise, Rise of the Technovore is no doubt a Warren Ellis Madhouse creation. However, watching the middle of the anime will lose anyone that isn't familiar with the Iron Man mythos. For about 30 minutes there, I hope everyone knows their Iron Man history. Otherwise, like any other Warren Ellis project, questions about humanity's failings and technology's trappings are abound. When do we say we have gotten too attached to tech? How far is too far in terms of advancement? Just how many women has Tony Stark been with? You know.. the important, thought provoking questions. LOL and oh yeah, after this I am craving a Warren Ellis Punisher project. Just watch the anime and you will see why.... 6.5 out of 10

This feels like that the rights for old creators just got slapped back to zero... On the eve of a movie that could have gotten their families more money.. Hence why DC and Warner Bros pushing this decision through now. Sneaky Bastards.

That's it for me this week Science Fiction Fans. Until next Time Loyal Readers, I'll See You In The Stands!